This recent Newsweek article “R.I.P., Macintosh” has me thinking about whether Apple is going to continue to release new laptop and desktop hardware as well as their (now) “classic” operating system, OS X. The author, Daniel Lyons, makes a great point by saying that Apple has entirely ignored any of their traditional hardware platforms in favor of updates to the iPhone, release of the iPad and shifting consumer focus to their mobile operating system by renaming it then calling a press conference to discuss it.

I hope for the best and fear the worst, but suspect that there could be an exit strategy here for Apple. Shifting their focus to their proprietary devices (sound familiar) and away from the hardware and software that have become largely commodity gives Apple the ability to keep tight control over everything that goes onto their systems. No longer do they need to be associated with Open Source, no longer do they need to be associated with standard Intel processors and motherboards. They can double their efforts into making proprietary hardware with proprietary operating systems.